i somehow acquired 2 runaways and i have questions. please help

[pollipazzi]

I throw one hand with mixed grains/seeds in the run and start calling them. Start clapping if don’t see them.
Soon a few come to take a look. A second handful and more chickens follow. (Repeat) Until they are all inside.

Maybe you need better treats? What do you give them to lure them?

mealworms, sunflower seed, blueberries, sometimes a broken up walnut, louise really likes yogurt and thelma really likes scrambled egg. but they will both eat both of those things.
today i stopped in this sort of bird pet-shop in town. i got some stuff. it looks like a mix of small round seeds that i have no idea what they are, bit of sunflower seed, tiny bits of corn, tiny bits of peas. the guy said it was a poultry mix. it looks like the treat block only loose. louise really likes it. but she still wouldn't go in for it.

 

[pollipazzi]

I throw one hand with mixed grains/seeds in the run and start calling them. Start clapping if don’t see them.
Soon a few come to take a look. A second handful and more chickens follow. (Repeat) Until they are all inside.

Maybe you need better treats? What do you give them to lure them?

also! if i throw stuff in and they don't see me do it, it is invisible.

 

[pollipazzi]

i was also wondering if since louise is molting and she's the ring leader, and she's acting all nuts, maybe this is the problem lately?
but thelma is not molting, still hasn't laid an egg. everybody is crazy and i need a holiday. lol!

 

[BDutch]

also. sorry. another stupid question...
if a few come when you call the first time and the rest come after the second call, have you closed the first ones that came in the run so they don't go back out before the others arrive?

if i get one in and close the door, the other is going in the opposite direction saying "i'm no sucker. you're not getting me to go in there too!"

I have two doors I open if they can free range. A small door at the front and a large door at the back where the rabbit fences are.

If a few/most hens are back inside again , i close the small front door. So no chickens escape unseen.
If I miss a few chickens I close both doors and make a tour around the house to see where the dumb chickens are hiding. In the meantime they often retuned while I was searching. If so I calmly walk to the back door and let them in. Again, the rabbit fences help so they won’t get scattered immediately.

Chickens are individuals. And maybe you have a pair that is difficult to train or something happened in the past why they don’t want to go in the run. (Trauma?)

 

[BDutch]

also! if i throw stuff in and they don't see me do it, it is invisible.

They hear you! That is why you need to make a sound with the treat-action.

 

[pollipazzi]

I have two door I open if they can free range. A small door at the front and a large door at the back where the rabbit fences are.

If a few/most hens are inside i close the small front door. So no chickens escape again unseen.
If I miss a few chickens I close both doors and make a tour around the house to see where the dumb chickens are hiding. In the meantime they often retuned while I was searching. If so I calmly walk to the back door and let them in. Again, the rabbit fences help so they won’t get scattered immediately.

Chickens are individuals. And maybe you have a pair that is difficult to train or something happened in the past why they don’t want to go in the run. (Trauma?)

yeah. i don't know what may have happened to them before they started staying here. louise had a big hole in her beak when she arrived. it must have had a scab on it and, well, i didn't know anything about chickens and thought maybe she just had a weird beak. but after the scab cleared up, there was a hole. it must have been very painful. i don't know what happened because she just arrived that way. that has completely healed now and she has a normal beak but i always wondered did something really traumatising happen and that's why she is the way she is. i imagine it wasn't easy how they were living.
as far as living here, if it isn't the cat that traumatised them, can they sense the foxes while they are in the coop? nothing has happened that i am aware of since they have been staying here besides those things.

 

[pollipazzi]

They hear you! That is why you need to make a sound with the treat-action.

i say chick chick and i click my tongue. lol! i do make a sound. however, the tongue clicking was originally for the crows before the chickens came and they are not happy that it's for the chickens now.

 

[RoyalChick]

so you ONLY give the treat in the run? and call them to it?

At the moment because of the rats not even in the run. Out in the yard. I still make them come to me but I don’t want any scraps left for the rats.

 

[pollipazzi]

At the moment because of the rats not even in the run. Out in the yard. I still make them come to me but I don’t want any scraps left for the rats.

i'm sorry you have rats

 

[RoyalChick]

is the rat problem any better at all?
i'm hoping all these foxes are eating rats and too full for chickens.

I had a bald eagle high up near the chickens a couple of days ago and I kid you not, I stood at the base of the tree and explained how delicious it would be to eat rat instead of chicken!